Winter of Despair is the second "Gaslight Mystery" featuring Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and a particularly smart and rebellious servant girl. I feel about this book much the way I did about the first—it's not brilliant historical fiction, it's not a mind-bending mystery, but it has enough of each of those to make for enjoyable light reading.

This time around, Collins' younger brother is accused is accused murdering a fellow artist. He's not the only suspect, however. It seems that the artist also engaged in blackmail, painting people in compromising positions, then demanding payment to keep the works hidden.

If you like "cozy" historical mysteries, you may wat to pick this title up.

Friends Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins investigate the murder of a local artist who has implicated townspeople in his paintings depicting deadly sins. Plenty of suspects to choose from in this fast-paced historical mystery.